First day at the MTC for our mission to Quito, Ecuador. There is construction going on and the snow was falling so it was a bit of a trick to park and get settled. There were several young missionaries to help us carry luggage into our room. We knew the drill so things went smoothly. We met lots of very nice people from all over the USA and going all over the world. There is only one single sister who said she would be working with PEF. Today was just orientation and getting supplies and getting organized. We had lots of homework to get ready to dive into Preach My Gospel tomorrow through Friday. The food is good in the cafeteria and it is so fun to see so many beautiful sisters and handsome elders who will be teaching the gospel all over the world. Things have got to get better even as they get worse in this old world. We look forward to getting acquainted with out peers as we learn and teach together. We checked with Travel and our visa has arrived in SLC. There will be no problems waiting for a visa. And...there is now wireless internet access in our rooms! Yea! I'm grateful to be here and look forward to our MTC experience and our mission in Ecuador.
We had a great second day. Taught the first discussion and learned about great teaching principles. Found out that the only couple with a Spanish surname are living in Boston where David E went on his mission, the husband is from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and the wife is from Ecuador. Another couple we met this afternoon will be in Santo Domingo, living in the "Casa" next to the temple and working in the Area Office. We need to talk tomorrow so I can tell her how wonderful it will be for them there. I wanted to whisper to her while we were listening to our teacher.
On Tuesday night there is always a devotional with a great speaker. Julie Beck (Relief Society General President) spoke to us. Of course it was wonderful. She told of growing up for five years in Brazil with her 10 brothers and sisters. (One of her brothers now lives in Melba.) They sold everything and moved to Brazil as if it would be forever. There was no set term for mission presidents then. It took two months to get a letter to the US and no one telephoned unless it was an emergency. She said they played missionary growing up because they always had 6 or 8 living with them and missionary work was their life. She said her father drew the line when they tried to baptize her 2 year old sister in the font in their backyard. She said that there were 2000 members and no church buildings and now there are over a million members and I don't know how many missions and temples and buildings. The growth has been incredible within her lifetime.
She told a story about her daughter's mother in law who was in the audience right in front of us. They are Oriental and were living in Korea and she was enthusiastic about missionary work. The full time missionaries asked her to talk to an investigating family cause they would not accept tithing. Sister Chin said she would be happy to help them understand. She told the couple, it is not just the 10% tithing you are expected to pay. There are also fast offerings and she explained that was and how it is used. She said you should consider donating to Humanitarian services as well and you must begin to save money so your sons can go on missions when they are 19. She told them it is not just the 10% but the Lord expects your whole heart and it is a privilege to give your all. They accepted tithing and baptism. I loved every minute of listening to Sister Beck and to hear all of the missionaries singing Called to Serve is worth the price of admission.
As we left the Devotional this evening the center of the complex is alight with Christmas lights in the trees. Christmas has arrived. It is beautiful.
We started our training Wednesday with a visit with an "investigator" in order to teach the first discussion. Volunteers come in and role play. Previously we had this experience where they came into our room but now there is a training center where little living rooms are set up and there is a video camera. A little more pressure but since I didn't have to watch our video I'm hoping no one else did either. Our investigator was a great actor or he really was a crusty old man who was realizing that he might have missed something very important because he didn't want to give up his coffee. He married a Mormon and his children went on missions but he never participated himself. He kept asking questions that did not fit into our agenda but I think we answered him and accomplished our purpose. He agreed to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon and meet us at church on Sunday.
We talked more about how to teach and will have another similar experience tomorrow with the second lesson. It is a good experience and we are learning useful skills and how to work together in a teaching situation. That comes up often on a mission and in real life.
A new batch of missionaries came to the MTC today. We saw lots of suitcases and some less confident missionaries in the cafeteria. They continue to feed us well and we learned that there is ice cream every Wednesday to celebrate. It is a good day of the week. Two more days of working with Preach My Gospel.
Today at the MTC we continued our process of being taught and teaching others. We taught a volunteer again in the Training Resource Center. He told us he had lost his wife in the last week and his eyes leaked tears for 45 minutes. He was a great actor or maybe it really happened. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation and it went pretty well. He agreed to meet with us again and asked us to come tomorrow to teach him more. It is fun to get to know more of our fellow missionaries. One couple told us that they spent 35 years of their marriage not going to church and here they are on a mission. Don't neglect those who are not interested. They might change their minds.
I had salmon for dinner. I don't get to do that very often. I lost my coat earlier today because someone else thought it was theirs. Fortunately it showed up again on the coat rack and I am no longer cold. We got an email from Brother Samuel Gomez, our boss, in Lima, Peru. He is aware that we are coming and hopefully someone will come to pick us up at the airport.
Today was our last day of training in Preach My Gospel. We learned about how to work with less actives and part member families and also with ward councils. It is a little sad to realize that these great couples that we are just getting acquainted with are leaving and we will never see them again...except for the ones that have Seminary and Institute training with us next week. And we will meet many wonderful people in Ecuador!
We came to Nancy's house at the end of the day. She is enjoying a dinner out and a volleyball game with a friend visiting from Idaho Falls. We will get to see her tomorrow. The girl's bedroom across the hall has a least one mouse in it so there has been lots of excitement to see if one has been caught yet. Not yet. (In fact, before we left for Ecuador it seemed that the mice had outsmarted the people so far.) I bought a 1 T external hard drive at Costco tonight. My smaller external hard drive has been making suspicious noises. I suspect that on sale at Costco is a better price than anything in Ecuador. Gotta keep the photos of the grandchildren safe. Here are some of the Evans children. We are grateful that Morgan always lets us use her bedroom when we visit.
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